Friends of the Reedy River project seeks to establish natural meadow in downtown Greenville
Tucked below the Academy Street bridge and bordered by the Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail and the Reedy River lies a roughly two-acre swath of green space that Friends of the Reedy River plans to transform into a verdant jewel to adorn downtown Greenville.
The vision for the Reedy River Meadow is to remove the invasive weeds, shrubs and vines to rejuvenate the bedraggled appearance of the property about halfway between Falls Park and Unity Park.
Back to basics
The two-year, $204,000 project will rehabilitate the 1.83 acres of vacant land owned by Naturaland Trust near Linky Stone Park and will start with the arduous task of removing non-native and nuisance plant species.
The latest of four work days so far was June 18, when more than a score of volunteers worked hard to remove invasive plants like Johnson grass, a species native to Asia that is considered one of the most pernicious weeds in the world.
Crews from Asheville, North Carolina-based Raven Invasive Plant Management LLC are tackling removal of the more tenacious vines, shrubs and trees along the property’s border with the Reedy River.
The removal of invasive and nuisance species will give FoRR and its volunteers and community partners essentially a blank canvas to work with in restoring a healthy, native riverside landscape, according to Josie Newton, FoRR’s watershed scientist project coordinator.
She said this phase of the project will remove weeds and invasives, followed by using sheet mulching to prevent their reemergence or re-establishment. The technique involves putting down a layer of cardboard topped with about four inches of mulch.
The next phase, which is expected to begin this fall, includes planting native trees and shrubs.
Educational beauty
The notion of what Reedy River Meadow could become started several years ago with FoRR board chair Scott Butler during walks from Falls Park to Unity Park.
That idea led to the Reedy River Meadow steering committee, which brought together partners like FoRR, Naturaland Trust, Trees Upstate, Reedy River Water Quality Group, Greenville County Soil & Water Conservation District, Earth Design Landscape Architecture & Environmental Design, City of Greenville Parks, Recreation & Tourism, and Greenville County Parks, Recreation & Tourism to develop a plan.
That plan splits the property into four zones, each with its own design and development elements.
Newton said one of the plan’s most exciting elements is its centerpiece: flowering plants and shrubs that will form a certified monarch butterfly waystation. Such waystations are intentionally designed and maintained to provide essential resources for the critically endangered monarch butterfly during their annual migrations from all over North America to their overwintering grounds in central Mexico.
Reedy River Meadow will also serve as a testing ground in which local students and citizen scientists will assess the effectiveness of various techniques for establishing and maintaining a healthy river-meadow environment.
That knowledge will be crucial in developing strategies and methods for establishing and expanding riparian buffers along the Reedy to mitigate the impacts of flooding. Ultimately, the project will install signage with QR codes that will help spread that knowledge to visitors.
For more information about Reedy River Meadow or to volunteer for future work days, visit friendsofthereedyriver.org.
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